Bryan Denson | The Oregonian/OregonLive

About Me:

Bryan Denson is an investigative reporter who covers criminal justice policy and national security matters. He began his career in newsrooms with typewriters and booze. (He prefers laptops and coffee.)

Jason Yates, the GOP nominee taking on U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici in the Nov. 4, 2014 general election, claims he earned a degree at Portland State University. The school says he didn't. (Photo from candidate's website)

Former U.S. Rep. Wes Cooley fought back against critics who said he lied about his Army days in Korea. He took aim at them at a 1996 press conference in Medford, famously holding up a copy of the National Enquirer. (Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian)

Marilee Jones, the former dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, seen in this file photo, admitted that she fabricated her own academic credentials and resigned. (Jodi Hilton/The New York Times)

George O'Leary, seen in August 2014 photo, resigned as Notre Dame's head football coach and acknowledged he falsified portions of his academic and athletic experiences. (Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel)

Gerald M. Needham served as co-counsel in the defense of Nathan Nicholson. The New York native has spent nearly 20 years as a defense lawyer from the Big Apple to West Virginia to Oregon. Bryan Denson/The Oregonian

Nathan Nicholson lived in west Eugene at the Heron Meadows Apartments when he began his travels across the globe to meet with a Russian spy. It was there, for the second time in his life, he found FBI agents standing on his doorstep. Bryan Denson/The Oregonian